| Term Paper Title | Michael Jordan: The Early Years. |
| # of Words | 1137 |
| # of Pages (250 words per page double spaced) | 4.55 |
Michael Jordan: The early years.
Michael Jordan was one of five children born to James and Delores Jordan.
He was born February 17, 1963 in Brooklyn. The Jordans' felt that the streets
of Brooklyn were unsafe to raise a young family of five children. Instead of
trying to endure the streets of Brooklyn, the Jordan family moved to Wilmington,
North Carolina. James got a job in Wilmington as a mechanic and Delores got a
job as a teller at United Carolina Bank. The Jordan's always stressed the value
of manners to their children. The above examples typified Michael Jordan's
early years.
Michael's first love.
Michael always had an eye for baseball. He played as an outfielder and
as a pitcher. When he was twelve, he was the top player in his league. Michael
had his picture placed in the Morning Star, which is Wilmington's newspaper. By
the age of fifteen, he wasn't the star in baseball he once was. He was still
very good, but he had lost some of his focus. Later, in his high school career,
he dropped baseball to pursue another interest.
Basketball and Michael.
When Michael was younger he adopted the game of basketball. Mike used
to work with his father in the garage. While working with his father, Michael
picked up the habit of sticking his tongue out in an intense situation. When
Michael reached the ninth grade, he tried out for basketball. Coach Lynch,
Michael's coach, cut Michael which in turn may have made the best player alive
today. Michael then took practicing basketball to another level. He played his
brother Larry whenever he could. Michael never expected what would come in the
near future.
The College Years.
Michael Jordan went to the University of North Carolina as a basketball
recruit. Even though Jordan at 6'5" was a man with potential, he still studied
very hard in an attempt to get a good education, while competing in sports.
Mike wasn't expected to be a star of the Tar Heels, since they had players such
as James Worthy, Sam Perkins, and Al Wood. By the end of the 1981-82 season,
Jordan, as a freshman, was an everyday starter. Carolina reached the Final Four
with the help of Jordan, who had sixteen points and led the team with nine
rebounds. In the final twenty seconds, Michael made a title winning shot from
the left baseline. In Michael's sophomore and junior seasons, he was voted
College Basketball's Player of the Year. Through Michael's three years at
Carolina, he average 17.7 points per game, while maintaining a "B" average.
The Rookie Season.
After a great college career, Michael was drafted by the Chicago Bulls
as the third pick of the 1984-85 season. Michael quickly signed a $6.15 million
contract. Michael made a huge impact in the National Basketball Association.
He made such an impact that he was selected to be an alternate on the Eastern
Division All-Star squad. During his rookie season with the Bulls, companies
started picturing Jordan on posters and on television. Jordan led the Bulls to
a 38 win and 44 loss season. Jordan averaged 28.2 points per game, while
setting a team record with 2,313 points. He won the Schick Pivotal Player of
the Year Award, Seagram's NBA Pivotal Player of the Year Award, and the honor of
Rookie of the year.
Michael and Endorsements.
With Michael's growing success in the NBA, more and more companies
wanted to use the "Air Jordan" name. One of the first companies to use his name
was Nike. Nike paid Michael $2.5 million, so they could begin a line of shoes
known as "A...Read entire document
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